Monday, October 27, 2014

New movie review: Dear White People

It is provocative. It is a discussion starter. It is an
important topic. It means well – but the road to hell, as they say, is paved
with good intentions. Justin Simien’s debut feature, Dear White People, has all the makings of a message film filtered
through the sensibilities of a satirical comedy-drama. That it mostly succeeds
at comedy and mostly fails at drama is beside the point. The goal of this
feature is to hold a mirror up to the culture and show us where we have gone
wrong. What appears in the reflection will say more about the viewer than the
film.

Race remains a lightning-rod issue in all corners of society.
Polite conversation can devolve into uninformed political rhetoric and outright
anger just by bringing race into the discussion. Most people would rather avoid
the topic altogether and tuck it away with their talking points about religion
and politics until they find like-minded folks with whom they can just nod
their heads.

This is particularly true if you find yourself among the
white people in “mixed” company, whatever that means anymore. Maybe you try to
steer the conversation away from controversy or just bite your tongue
altogether. God forbid you should offend someone or, worse, be called a racist.
Do you know who is most afraid of being labeled racist? Racists.

Dialogue is good. Discussion is good. Hell yes, debate is
good. In one of Dear White People’s
many “that is so true” moments, firebrand radio host Sam White, played by Tessa
Thompson, announces on her show that white people who use the term “African
American” because they are afraid of saying “black” should just go ahead and
say “nigger” because that is what they want to say anyway.

The moment is played for laughs but is in reality an
instance of bracing honesty. This film is speaking to a generation of 18- to
25-year-olds who want to ignore race, move past it, and pretend they do not see
color. Their intentions are good, but those road signs you see point directly
to hell. We will not get past issues by claiming we are above them. We will get
past them by diving down into the mud and fighting. Controversy should be
courted and confronted.

In this respect, Dear
White People is a noble and necessary effort. Any film that fosters
intelligent debate among people with differing views should be seen far and
wide; however, I cannot say the conversations this film starts will necessarily
be intelligent. The problem lies in the prevalence of the aforementioned “that
is so true” moments, which are this film’s stock-in-trade.

It bears repeating that race is a tough topic to tackle on
film. Most people just do not want to hear it, and when they do, it makes them
defensive. “I would never say that” or “I could never do something like that”
are the familiar refrains of moviegoers confronted with a reality they hoped
not to acknowledge, but the oft-ignored fact is: It does not matter what you
would do or have done; all that matters is that it is done.

Remember, we are living in the time of President Barack
Obama and a generation of teenagers and young adults who vowed to be better
about these kinds of things, definitely better than their parents’ generation
and the generations before that. The president of the fictional Ivy League
university featured in Dear White People
even says at one point, “Racism is over.” And would you believe there are
people, smart people, who believe this to be true?

The problem with Dear
White People’s satirical approach to storytelling is that it gives audience
members permission to laugh at themselves. Rather than challenge viewers to
think critically about the roles they play in oppression, racism, and
inequality, it lets them off the hook with its artifice of humor. As a result,
people are most likely to leave the theater joking with their friends about how
“that is so true,” sharing a chuckle, and wondering what they are going to get
for dinner.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the film is that Simien
tries to cram too much story and too many characters into an already bloated
hour and 50-minute runtime. The radio host at the center of everything is Thompson's lived-in take on a mixed-race woman
trying to embrace her essential blackness. There is Tyler James Williams as
Lionel Higgins, whose identity crisis comes from the fact that he does not
conform to typical black stereotypes. Kyle Gallner plays Kurt Fletcher, whose successful
father bullies him into actively avoiding those same stereotypes. And Teyonah Parris
is Colandrea “Coco” Conners, who wants notoriety and recognition any way she can
get it.

Those are just the main characters. There are about a
half-dozen side characters whose stories we are asked to follow and concern
ourselves with, as well as a complex and contradictory web of motivations for
all of them. Streamlining would have done Simien’s film a world of good. For
all the interlocking plots and showy storytelling devices, the central theme of
the movie boils down to this: How can a black person be the most honest version
of himself or herself in a predominantly white culture?

It is a powerful thesis question, enough for a whole series
of films on the black experience in America. That would be an exciting project,
something I would be first in line for every time. Instead, Simien gives us a
picture with so much to say that it is constantly tripping over its tongue
trying to get it all out. I am glad this film was made. I am energized by the
idea that people may ask questions about their prejudices and the prejudice
they see. But Dear White People is
better in its design than its execution, and I am sad to report this probably
will not be the film that exposes the cracks in the broken veneer of social
harmony.

Having already discussed movies like Prideand Gone Girl in
this space, it is hard not to think we are in a year of movies with important
things to say about the society we have built but with no idea how to get their
messages across. They intend to provoke. They intend to start discussions. They
intend a lot of good things, but it is not enough. We need to move beyond good
intentions and embrace positive actions. If we cannot do that, then I guess I
will see you in hell.